Nigel Farage will quit as Ukip leader if he fails to win a seat at general election

Ukip leader admits it will be 'curtains' for his tenure at the helm of the Eurosceptic party if he does not win the South Thanet seat

Nigel Farage will quit as Ukip leader if he fails to win a Parliamentary seat at the general election in May (PA)

Nigel Farage will quit as Ukip leader if he fails to win a Parliamentary seat at the general election in May.

The Ukip leader has admitted it will be “curtains” for his tenure at the helm of the Eurosceptic party if he does not win the South Thanet seat in two months.

Mr Farage was elected for a four year term as Ukip leader last November, but revealed he could step down after May in the latest extract from his book which is being serialised in the Daily Telegraph.

It comes as he revealed that he did not believe the children of new immigrants to the United Kingdom should be allowed to attend state schools for five years after their arrival.

In an interview with the Guardian and the Mirror Online, he said immigrants would not be expected to bring dependents with them for a period of time.

In the latest extracts from his new book, Mr Farage wrote: “It is frankly just not credible for me to continue to lead the party without a Westminster seat. What credibility would Ukip have in the Commons if others had to enunciate party policy in Parliament and the party leader was only allowed in as a guest?

“Was I supposed to brief Ukip policy from the Westminster Arms? No, if I fail to win South Thanet, it is curtains for me. I will have to step down.”

He said he hopes that staking his political future on victory in South Thanet will draw the “flak” from the Labour and Conservatives towards him and away from the party’s other target seats.

The revelation came as he backed a policy on the Ukip website saying immigrants must support themselves and their dependents for five years before gaining access to state education, housing and health care, except in emergencies.

“I wouldn’t foresee people coming into Britain immediately being allowed to bring children to go through the state system,” he said.